Kaleidoscopic game

ABSTRACT

Kaleidoscopic game comprises a plurality of sets of flat, multicolored pieces. The pieces in each set are of the same size and shape, but the pieces of different sets may be of different shapes. However, each piece in each set has at least one edge of the same length as one edge of each piece in each other set, and the colors on each piece are so arranged that they register at each edge with the colors at edges of all the pieces in all sets which are of the same length.

Sept. 4, 11973 I stateS Patent 1 1 Kralm l54l KALEHDOSCOHC GAME FORElGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS R 7 6 4H n3 7 2 mm mm fl fl BB tt aa e6 tr G6 99 44 99 NH 002 1 25 73 23 66 3 4 7 2 0 r b E n mm m KC 0 00 n am t mn ea FS n O t n e V n I 6 7 l ,OO1,145 10/1951 France............................ 273/157 R 177,841 4/1922 Great Britain 273/157 R [22] Filed: Dec. 22, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 211,050

Primary Examiner-Anton O. Oechsle Attorney Halcombe t Data Related U.S. Applica ion Continuation-impart of Ser. 1969, abandoned.

, Wetherill 8: Brisebois ,360, Nov. 24,

57 ABSTRACT Kaleidoscopic game comprises a plurality of sets of flat,

multicolored pieces. The pieces in each set are of the same size and shape, but the pieces of different sets may be of different shapes. However, each piece in 0 4 R m 1 5 1 f wm 7 R 2 m a nt l 4 2 ,m 5 numa,

- 3 5 n WT l n n "6 u h h c r a .9 m 1 Cfl m SL8 n... UIF lIll 2 oo 555 ill.

each set has at least one edge of the same length as one edge of each piece in each other set, and the colors on ted UNITED STATES PATENTS References C each piece are so arranged that they register at each 35/27 X edge with the colors at edges of all the pieces in all sets which are of the same length.

Mueller....

Rhodes 35/27 273/|57 R UX 9 Claims, 16 Drawing Figures Schepmoe.

. Patented Sept 4, 1973 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept. 4, 1973 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Sept. 4, 1973 3,755,923

6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Sept. 4, 1973 3,755,923

6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Sept. 4, 1973 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 IKALEIDOSCOPIC GAME This application is a continuation-impart of Ser. No. 879,360, filed Nov. 24, 1969, and now abandoned.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a mosaic game and, more particularly, to a kaleidoscopic mosaic game.

It is well known that a considerable variety of figures, multi-colored or not, may be formed from a set of geometrical pieces of various shapes and colors. The present invention, while based on similar principles, introduces an improvement by adding to the individual pieces, various individual designs which may be combined to form a plurality of different larger designs and add variety to the coloring of the various groups of these pieces, when they are combined to form said larger designs which bring to mind those scenes viewed through a kaleidoscope.

For a better understanding of this kaleidoscopic mosaic game, it will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which the various shapes of the components of a preferred embodiment of the invention are shown in detail. In the drawings:

FIG. ll shows a piece, to which a picture or design has been added by way of example, one of the sides of this square piece being cut out along a semicircular line;

FIG. 2 is a piece in the form of an equilateral triangle;

FIG. 3 is a rectangular piece, which is also cut out along a semicircular line having the same radius as the semicircular line of the square piece;

FIGS. s and 5 show right angle triangles, complementary one to the other;

FIG. 6 is a semicircular piece which fits into either of the cutouts mentioned in FIGS. l and 3;

FIG. 7 shows a set of four square pieces associated to form a first square design which is symmetrical about a vertical line;

FIG. 3 shows a set of six triangular pieces associated to form a first hexagonal design;

FIG. 9 shows the square pieces of FIG. 7 rearranged to form a second square design which is symmetrical about a vertical line;

FIG. 110 shows the triangular pieces of FIG. 8 rearranged to form a second triangular design;

FIG. ll shows the square pieces of FIG. 7 used to form a third square;

FIG. 12 shows the triangular pieces of FIG. 8 rearranged to form a third design;

FIG. 13 shows two of the square pieces of FIG. 7 combined with two square pieces from a second set to form a square design;

FIG. M shows three triangular pieces from the set of FIG. 3 combined with three pieces from a second set of triangular pieces to form yet another hexagonal design;

FIG. l5 shows how pieces from a number of sets of differently shaped pieces may be combined to form a single design; and

FIG. 16 is another figure showing the combination of pieces from several sets of differently shaped pieces to form a single design.

The above mentioned pieces are variously colored on one or both of their faces, and may be colored in two, three or more colors, in addition to the basic color of the material from which these pieces are made.

From the geometrical point of view, the pieces are made in accordance with a basic module, which may be the side of the square piece of FIG. I. The equilateral triangle will then have this module for its side; the rectangle of FIG. 3 would have one module for its long side and onehalf module for its short side. The right trian gles of FIGS. 4 and 5 are produced by dividing the equilateral triangle by a line perpendicular to a side drawn through the corresponding apex of the equilateral tri angle. The right triangles of FIGS. 4 and 5 have thus one-half module as a base and I module for the hypotenuse. The semicircular cutouts indicated in FIGS. 1 and 3 should have a radius slightly larger than one-fourth module, which would give a diameter of rather more than one-half module, and the semicircular piece should then be made to fit these semicircular cutouts.

By combining a set of these different pieces, colored with different patterns, a great variety of multicolored combinations may be formed, and the results lead to pictures or designs of great interest and delight.

However, certain relationships must exist between the pictorial representations or designs of a given set of pieces, which can be formulated as simple laws. Otherwise, there is great freedom in the choice of the number of colors used and in the designs that can be applied to each piece. There is also great freedom in the choice of the number of pieces which is to be included in a given set.

The preferred distribution of pieces, illustrated in FIGS. 1 6 is as follows:

One square piece; one rectangular piece; two equilateral triangles; four right triangles and two semicircular pieces.

A complete game would then consist of four of such basic groups, i.e. there would be 40 pieces in the game, divided into five sets with one set consisting of four squares, one of four rectangles, one of eight equilateral triangles, one of sixteen right triangles, and one of eight semicircular pieces. However, any number of pieces of the same shape can be grouped together to form a given set.

The essential condition is that there must be a certain amount of matching of the designs at the edges of two potentially adjoining pieces. This matching or continuity must appear at least on two sides that may be brought together, but it is not absolutely necessary that there be total matching of the colors in both pieces. It is only necessary that enough of these colors match to produce a single dominant design when the pieces are assembled. Thus, for instance, when two colors are applied to a basic third color, i.e. that of the material used for making the pieces, it is sufficient that matching or continuity be produced between one of the colors used for the pieces that may be brought together but not necessarily in both of those colors.

For instance, the square of FIG. 1 and the equilateral triangle of FIG. 2, show an example of two-colored fig ures superimposed on the color of the base material which has been used in making these pieces. There is border coincidence or color matching between the upper edge of the square (as shown in the drawing) and one side of the equilateral triangle of FIG. 2, this time in all the colors. However, between the inclined side of the equilateral triangle of FIG. 2 and the hypotenuse of the right angle triangle of FIGS. s and 5, there is border matching in only one of the colors, and not in the other color. Observe the matching of the sequence 10-12-44- 16-1 8-20...of FIG. I with the sequences 10 12 14" l6'-l8'-20'-...of FIG. 2. However, this is not the case in the sequence 22-26-30-32-33-34-35-36-24 of FIG. 2 with the corresponding sequence 22'-2628-26'-...of the hypotenuse of FIG. 4, for the color 28' does not have a counterpart of the same color in FIG. 2 but is opposite the color 26 of FIG. 2. This also occurs in the case of the color 35' of FIG. 4, which comes only partly into contact with the colored strip 35.

Once the above requirements have been met, the remaining surface of each piece may be colored with any desired design or picture, whether symmetrical or not, and here the artist has complete liberty. The semicircular pieces do not require registration or matching of colors with the colors of the semicircular borders of the pieces shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, but it is convenient for the semicircular pieces to have registering colors along their diameters, or at least one registering color. There may also be diversification of colors along the rounded edge, so that two semicircular pieces may be placed together along their diameters and this common diameter may be either aligned with or transverse to the adjacent edges of the other pieces in contact therewith, as desired. The proper angle in this case would be 90.

The material to be used for these pieces may be any material adapted to their manufacture. The materials may range from cardboard, to which a finish like that of ordinary playing cards may be imparted, to wood and to printable plastics adapted to receive colors. As to the thickness of these pieces, they may range or vary from that of playing cards to one-half inch or even three-fourth inch, such a thickness being especially suitable when the design produced is made in a vertical arrangement of the various pieces, as in the case of building blocks. The pieces may also be cut out of wood and faced with printed paper applied with a suitable adhesive. Multicolored printing could then be used advantageously.

The backs of the various pieces may be left in their natural color or treated in different ways. In one case, the backs may be colored solidly with one of the colors used for the face printing. In another case, the backs could be colored similarly to the fronts of the pieces, but using different designs, provided the simple rule is applied that these colors also match those of the sides of the other face of the piece, thus enlarging the scope of a set of say 40 pieces, to act like one of 80 pieces.

FIGS. 7l6 illustrate a second embodiment of the invention. Turning now to FIG. 7 this shows one set of four square pieces arranged to form a symmetrical design. Each piece has the four corners A, B, C, D, with all four corners A' at the center, the corners B at the corners of the large square, and the corners C and D in the middle of the sides of the large square.

FIG. 9 shows the identical pieces with corners C at the center and A at the sides. Both resulting designs are symmetrical about a vertical axis. In FIG. 11 two of the pieces remain as in FIG. 9, but two have been rotated to place their comers D at the corners of the large square. In FIG. 13 the upper right hand and lower left hand pieces are from the same set as shown in FIG. 7, but the two others are from a different set. The colors at the edges register, so that the result is a single design, symmetrical about a diagonal line between opposite corners.

Turning next to FIGS. 8, and 12, these show three different hexagonal designs which may be formed by simply rotating the individual triangular pieces in a sin gle set of six about their centers.

FIG. M shows how another hexagonal design may be produced by alternating pieces from two different sets of triangular pieces.

FIGS. l5 and 16 show two rectangular designs which can be made using pieces from several sets of different shapes. It will be observed that the arrangement of FIG. 15 utilizes three triangular pieces, two diamond-shaped pieces, two semicircular pieces, two recessed pieces at the corners, and an irregular pentagon.

FIG. 16, on the other hand, utilizes one diamond, two triangles, two squares, two semicircles, and two recessed pieces at the upper corners.

It will of course be appreciated that the assembled designs need not necessarily be rectangular, but may be of any shape selected by the user.

In one particular embodiment, at least some of the sets will consist of an even number of pieces, half of which have identical designs and the other half of which carry designs which are mirror images of those on the first half. This facilitates the assembly of symmetrical designs.

The amusement value of this game is very great and the rules of the game are so simple, that even young children easily learn the rules and apply them with great benefit. What is even more important is that it helps to develop artistic taste through the combination of shapes and designs.

This game may be played solitaire or by two or more persons, without varying the rules nor the number of pieces that form the set. When two persons play, the pieces should be divided equally among both players and each one of them should group his pieces according to shapes before beginning to play. Then, alternating their moves, they should try and build up a design by color-matching between adjacent pieces.

A full set may also have a different number of pieces. While a set of 40 pieces, which is a multiple of the 10 pieces forming the basic set has been mentioned, this merely indicates that a set of 40 forms a preferred embodiment of this game. Thebasic unit of 10 pieces mentioned could be the basic for forming many other multiples of that basic set.

Other geometrical shapes may be adopted for the divers pieces of this game, provided they may make at least partial contact with each other, without departing from the scope and spirit of this invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A kaleidoscopic game comprising a plurality of sets of multicolored pieces with the pieces of each set being of the same size and shape and having a shape different from those of at least one other set and at least one side of each piece in each set being of the same length as one side of each piece in all the other sets, and the colors on each piece within a set forming a multicolored design arranged so that the pieces of that set may be assembled to form a substantially symmetrical design, with at least one color at a plurality of the edges of each piece positioned to register with the same color at a plurality of the edges of each of the other pieces in the same set and with the same color at the edges of those pieces in each of the other sets, which are of the same length, whereby the pieces of each set may be arranged to form a plurality of different designs using only the pieces of that set, and a plurality of additional designs may be formed by utilizing pieces from a plurality of sets, and at least one of said sets comprising a plurality of pairs of pieces with non-identical multicolor designs, the design on one piece in each pair being the mirror image of the design on the other piece in said pair.

2. A game as claimed in claim 1 in which the pieces in each set can be arranged in a plurality of relative positions in which the colors thereon form differing symetrical designs.

3. A game as claimed in claim 1 in which the pieces in at least one set are regular polygons.

4. A game as claimed in claim 1 in which each piece carries at least three difi'erent colors.

5. A game as claimed in claim 1 in which the pieces in at least one set form a regular polygon when assembled to form a symmetrical design.

6. A game as claimed in claim 1 in which the pieces in at least one set can be assembled to form a regular polygon with the pieces in a plurality of relative positions, and form a symmetrical design when so assembled regardless of the relative positions of the individual pieces in that polygon.

7. A kaleidoscopic game as claimed in claim l in which all of the colors at an edge of each piece register with the same colors along those edges of all other pieces having the same length.

8. A kaleidoscopic game as claimed in claim 1 comprising a group of sets of regular polygons, with the pieces of each set in said group having a different number of sides, but the sides in all sets being of the same length.

9. A game as claimed in claim 1 in which half the pieces of said last mentioned set have identical multicolor designs, and the remaining half of said pieces have designs which are mirror images of the designs of said pieces of identical size and shape. 

1. A kaleidoscopic game comprising a plurality of sets of multicolored pieces with the pieces of each set being of the same size and shape and having a shape different from those of at least one other set and at least one side of each piece in each set being of the same length as one side of each piece in all the other sets, and the colors on each piece within a set forming a multicolored design arranged so that the pieces of that set may be assembled to form a substantially symmetrical design, with at least one color at a plurality of the edges of each piece positioned to register with the same color at a plurality of the edges of each of the other pieces in the same set and with the same color at the edges of those pieces in each of the other sets, which are of the same length, whereby the pieces of each set may be arranged to form a plurality of different designs using only the pieces of that set, and a plurality of additional designs may be formed by utilizing pieces from a plurality of sets, and at least one of said sets comprising a plurality of pairs of pieces with non-identical multicolor designs, the design on one piece in each pair being the mirror image of the design on the other piece in said pair.
 2. A game as claimed in claim 1 in which the pieces in each set can be arranged in a plurality of relative positions in which the colors thereon form differing symetrical designs.
 3. A game as claimed in claim 1 in which the pieces in at least one set are regular polygons.
 4. A game as claimed in claim 1 in which each piece carries at least three different colors.
 5. A game as claimed in claim 1 in which the pieces in at least one set form a regular polygon when assembled to form a symmetrical design.
 6. A game as claimed in claim 1 in which the pieces in at least one set can be assembled to form a regular polygon with the pieces in a plurality of relative positions, and form a symmetrical design when so assembled regardless of the relative positions of the individual pieces in that polygon.
 7. A kaleidoscopic game as claimed in claim 1 in which all of the colors at an edge of each piece register with the same colors along those edges of all other pieces having the same lenGth.
 8. A kaleidoscopic game as claimed in claim 1 comprising a group of sets of regular polygons, with the pieces of each set in said group having a different number of sides, but the sides in all sets being of the same length.
 9. A game as claimed in claim 1 in which half the pieces of said last mentioned set have identical multicolor designs, and the remaining half of said pieces have designs which are mirror images of the designs of said pieces of identical size and shape. 